Renee's journal, surviving the apocalypse, with autism
by MikeDecker74
Summary: See the fears, emotions and thoughts of an autistic child who was already intimidated of the pre-apocalyptic world, let alone the new challenges of surviving and contributing in the post-apocalyptic world. Written by someone who fully understands autism, and lives with it. Renee is a character from another Walking Dead spin-off /s/12489457/1/Above-the-Dead
1. Chapter 1

See the fears, emotions and thoughts of an autistic child who was already intimidated of the pre-apocalyptic world, let alone the new challenges of surviving and contributing in the post-apocalyptic world.

Written by someone who fully understands autism and lives with it.

The following is written by Brooke Decker, and consists of journal entries kept by an 11 year old girl, with high functioning autism and social anxiety, while surviving in a zombie apocalyptic world, and based from another Walking Dead spin-off, Above The Dead (click this Author's link (MikeDecker74) for Above The Dead)

above the dead . com

Renee's Journal

Thursday, September 2010

Dear Journal,

Today was fine I guess. There weren't that many kids at school today, which was pretty weird. Apparently, something is going around that's making a lot of people sick. So that's why my friend Maddy and lots of other kids were gone. School was boring without Maddy but those kids who I don't like, Kylie and Logan were gone too and that was nice.

My mom made her famous spaghetti for dinner and DJ watched some Spongebob with me before he had to go to work. So that was basically my day. Goodnight.

Friday, September 2010

Dear Journal,

I'm currently writing to you in my mom's car right now. We're on our way to my grandparent's house. My mom let me miss school today since so many kids are absent anyways, plus she doesn't want me to get sick. Something really strange is happening though. My mom seemed kind of panicked when we were getting ready to leave, and she wouldn't tell me what's going on, which scares me. But at the same time, she doesn't think I can handle it, which I guess frustrates me a bit, but maybe I won't be able to handle it, because of my anxiety. I think it has to do with why so many people are getting sick. That's why me and mom are going to my grandparent's house, because my mom said we'll be safer there. DJ is supposed to meet us there later. I've always loved going there. I have great memories being up there. When me and DJ were younger, we would go to my grandparent's all the time and have fun. They would set up a swimming pool in their backyard, in the summertime, and take us out on walks with their dogs, Buford and Zoey. Both dogs passed away a few years ago. R.I.P Buford and Zoey. I've always wanted a dog but my mom can't afford it, which sucks. My hand is cramping up so I'm gonna stop writing now. Bye.

Well… we made it to my grandparent's house a while ago. But it's now night time and the electricity isn't working. Before the electricity went out, we heard on the news that there is a virus going around that is making people go crazy. My mom didn't want me to watch the news anymore, after horrible and strange things were being shown, so she sent me upstairs for a while. I'm pretty freaked out right now, because terrorists might have caused this virus to happen, at least that's what I heard grandpa say. I heard him and grandma also talk about 9/11 and how much that effected the world, like how this virus is doing right now but it's even worse so far. My brother also isn't here yet. He was supposed to meet us here but like I said, he's not here. My mom left to go look for him and hopefully she finds him, and they both get here soon. That's all I have to say for now.

My dad is back. He arrived here sometime after my mom left. I know I never talked or wrote about my dad much. I don't like to talk about him, it's too hard to. I've only been around my dad a few times, and it was never pleasant, because he was always drinking and fighting with my mom, and even my brother. My dad came here because of the virus, and he's inside my grandparent's house right now, probably just drinking like he always does. I wish he would just leave and we would never have to see him again. I'm sitting outside with my grandparents, using a lantern to help me see what I'm writing. I can't believe everything that is happening… It all feels like a messed up dream that's taking me forever to wake up from.

(There are actual episodes of this story, a season and a half so far, posted here at fanfiction) above the dead . com


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday, September 2010

Dear Journal,

DJ is here! Mom was able to find him and they both came back last night. More good news, after mom and DJ arrived, my dad came outside and tried to force his way back inside the house, but DJ opened the door and punched him right in the face! It was weird seeing DJ do that, because he never gets angry much, but I have to admit, it was pretty awesome, and he deserved it. There are army soldiers here in my grandparent's neighborhood now, protecting us from the virus, and last night after some of them witnessed what happened between my brother and my dad, they led my dad away from us. Seeing that was so satisfying.

Even more good news, the power is back on now. I was outside with my family when it happened, and it was fun seeing all the other people outside excited/happy about it. I really hope that whatever this virus is, that it will go away soon and hopefully there's actually a cure for it. No one will talk to me about what's going on. Not even DJ will tell me anything. I'm guessing my mom made DJ swear not to tell me anything. I know DJ went through some stuff yesterday when he was trying to get here, though. My aunt Lisa hasn't made it here yet, and she was supposed to be on her way here as soon as she could leave work. Mom told me that aunt Lisa warned us to get out of town after she saw infected people at the hospital, doing crazy things. I can't imagine what she saw because like I said, I'm clueless about everything. Eventually I'll finally find out what the hell is happening. Goodnight.

Thursday, September 2010

Dear Journal,

Today was a decent day. My mom, DJ, and I helped grandma and grandpa do chores around the house, which wasn't exactly fun, but for some reason I didn't mind doing them. I finished another Nancy Drew book that I luckily didn't forget to bring with me from home, and wish I had another book from the series to read, it's quite addicting and I used to hate reading. It's been almost a week now since everything happened, and I wonder how much longer it's gonna take before life gets back to normal. It has been nice not having to go to school, but I miss my friend Maddy, and I'm curious with how she is dealing with all this, same with the other kids I know from school, and teachers too. It sucks that I can't use my phone to call Maddy. My mom and grandparents are worried sick about aunt Lisa, since they haven't been able to reach her at all, obviously. I'm afraid to admit it, but what if Maddy and aunt Lisa got infected from the virus?! That's something I don't even what to think about at all. I wanna doubt that they are infected because I still don't freaking know how serious this all is. I get that I'm just a kid, but I swear I get treated differently because I am different. My family doesn't understand me and they never will. Just because I have autism and anxiety, it doesn't mean that I'm fragile and will literally die from it. They "baby" me too much. I know I've complained before about autism and anxiety, in this journal, but clearly not enough. Maybe I will complain some more again when I have the energy to, or when the next embarrassing thing happens to me, because of my stupidity whenever I get anxious. Anyway, on a more positive mood, I think DJ has a girlfriend. I see him hang out with that girl Heather, who lives across the street and he always goes to her house, late at night. So good for him. Goodnight.

Monday, September 2010

Dear Journal,

The reason why I didn't write anything yesterday, was because I was in shock... and kind of depressed. A couple nights ago, my dad came back... again. I saw my dad get shot in the head by one of the army people. My dad is dead. I don't know why that army guy just killed him like that, I mean... my dad wasn't the greatest person ever, but murdering someone isn't right. That's all I wanna say about that.

I said I was also depressed. I don't think everything is improving. It seems like it's going to get worse before it gets better. News broadcasts aren't even happening anymore. Only the army can update us on what's going on, but they've been busy lately.

The power went out again. I was relieved that I could still watch stuff on TV using a DVD player, and that I could play games on the computer, but now I can't do that anymore, and I'm pretty bored. I feel stupid complaining about that after seeing what happened to my dad, and the fact that the world is in deep trouble. Goodnight.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 16, Saturday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

I lost my journal… actually I didn't lose it, I had to leave it behind at my grandparent's. So now I'm writing my personal thoughts and feelings in this notebook that my new friend was able to find for me. I'll get to my new friend in a bit, but I need to recap everything that has happened to me these past few days. I honestly don't want to though, I don't even feel like writing at all right now at the moment, but there's nothing else for me to do at this new place I'm currently at. So here goes… the last night I was at my grandparent's, a group of bad people came into the neighborhood and killed a lot of people. They then came into my grandparent's house, so my mom took me and hid me under the sink, in the bathroom. I heard my mom scream, but then everything was quiet. I was hiding in the bathroom for a few minutes, I think until DJ came in and found me. After he found me, he told me to close my eyes, as we were about to walk out of the house… so that I wouldn't see my mom's dead body… or my grandparent's bodies. It was so horrible, because I did!

DJ and I were able to get away, and found a safe place to be at for the night. DJ finally explained to me everything… everything messed up that has been going on in the world… and it's really crazy, I still can't process it. He told me that people are coming back from the dead, but not in their usual self. They come back more aggressive and scary, and… they also eat the living. I don't understand how the hell something like this is even happening! The world is ending because dead people are coming back as cannibals! That's something no one ever thought in their wildest dreams would happen! Anyway, DJ also told me that just one bite from a dead person, means it's all over and that people will turn into one of those things no matter how they die, like a car accident for example. That explains why there's so many of them, dead people walking around I mean. The only way to take out the dead is to shoot, stab, or smash their brain. We also have to worry about the living as well. With the world ending and all, people are gonna go insane and do anything they can to survive, even bad things, like killing innocent people! Like what those bad people did to my mom and grandparents!

The morning after me and DJ had to escape, we walked all day to go find these people that DJ met, while he was on his way to our grandparent's house a couple weeks ago. The people he met told him they were going up to a cabin, where they had neighbors who have a treehouse, and a compound where we can be safe at. I thought that sounded too good to be true, but I wanna believe so bad that we can make it there, to the compound. On our way to the cabin with the treehouse, we sort of got lost at one point, but I realized we kept passing the same damn tree. I helped DJ with heading into the right direction and we actually made it to the cabin place, late at night, but we wanted to wait til morning to find the people, so we slept in an abandoned cabin. What's kind of funny and embarrassing about that is the fact that before DJ and I adventured toward the cabin, I had this little… well I guess big meltdown that there was no way in hell I can survive this new world. I still feel like I can't, but I was really lucky that one time so far, that I was able to contribute and not be useless. We even had to hide from the dead in the bushes a couple times, and… the way the dead people sound, is seriously creepy. They just growl and grunt a lot. Just thinking about what they sound like gives me bad shivers.

The next day, me and DJ found Sam and Eli. Sam is close to my age, and she's the one with the family who has the compound. Eli is a couple years older than me, and DJ met Eli and his family on the road, that first day the world went to crap. Both Sam and Eli suffered a lot of loss, like me and DJ, did. Sam lost some of her family, and Eli lost all his family. It's been a couple days now, almost three, that me and DJ have been up here with Sam and Eli, just waiting… for Sam's family to get here and take us back with them to the compound. But, if they don't get here any time soon, then we'll have to go on an adventure to the compound ourselves, which God forbid we don't have to do because we could possibly die. Sam is writing a letter to her family, right now, in case we have to leave before they get here. She was the one who gave me a new journal to write in. Sam seems pretty cool. She told me and DJ some interesting things about the compound. Like how her grandpa has been prepared for the apocalypse to happen someday, so that's why he built it, and that the place is huge, where about a thousand people can live and survive there. DJ and I are so freaking lucky, that is if we actually make it to the compound. Eli seems cool too, and he's funny. He told us about HUFFs. Which is what he and Sam have been calling the dead, and it stands for hungry, ugly, freaky, f*ckers. Oh yeah, there's a cat up here who likes to hang out with us. His name is Bailey. He's a really nice cat, and loves to rest and sleep on someone's lap, which he's doing right now on my lap. So that's everything I needed to say, or write, about how my life has changed forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 17, Sunday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

We had to leave the tree house last night, because a group of dangerous looking men arrived. We were able to quietly escape with Sam's dad's car, without the men seeing us, and we already had all our stuff packed in the car, just in case we had to leave in a hurry. Then one of the tires from the car lost air, but we found a safe place to stay the night. The house we're at right now belongs to an older man, named Benny, who at first seemed like he wasn't gonna let us stay, but luckily, he did. Benny also has a dog, named Sandy, who I've bonded with pretty quickly. I just woke up, and I'm watching Bailey sniffing Sandy, as I'm writing. We brought Bailey with us and his cat carrier, which I'm glad, but hope nothing bad ever happens to him on our journey to the compound. We're planning on kayaking to the city, because the roads will be rough to travel through, with all the abandoned cars, so that's why I'm a little worried about Bailey. I forgot to mention yesterday when I was writing, that for now on I'm keeping track of how many days it's been since the apocalypse started. I figured keeping track with time is still important and don't want to ever lose track.

Sam's letter that she wrote to her family isn't at the tree house. Apparently, Eli took it because he wanted to read it. He was gonna put it back where Sam had left it, but he didn't have time to before we had to leave. I saw both of them arguing about the letter, and I feel so sorry for Sam. It really sucks that her family won't see it, and that kills me. I can't blame Eli though, because I heard him yelling at Sam about how he wanted to know how she dealt with her pain, from the letter. But still, that was a big mistake he made. I got to read it later, after Eli did, and... I totally empathize with Sam, with everything she went through. But she's strong though, same with Eli. I'm still a mess with everything that has happened, but I try to act like I'm keeping it together, even though I suck at it because I'm always quiet. I wonder how DJ is? I mean with how he's handling everything. He's probably distracted from it, because he's focused on our safety and stuff. Thank God I still have DJ! I don't know what I would do without him.

Day 18, Monday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

We Left Benny's house this morning. For a while, we had to travel on foot because we couldn't bring the car, but luckily Benny was able to fix it, and he drove and met up with us. Benny and Sandy are coming with us to the compound! Sam almost got attacked by a huff today. She screamed really loud and ran away from it. She was embarrassed that she did that, because she said she needs to be tough and smart. I already thought she was tough and smart, but whatever. Then for some reason I asked her if she thought I can survive, and also told her that I'm not tough and smart. I could tell she felt awkward when I said that, and I hate that I always say awkward things! I wouldn't even feel better if I somehow got money or candy, every time I said something awkward, because that's how much I hate being an awkward weirdo! Anyway, Sam gave me a not bad response, I guess. She just said I don't seem stupid. I will always and forever feel stupid. Later, we made it to the Columbia River and we all expressed our excitement and cheered, because we thought it would be more harder getting there. I kind of felt happy for a moment, which I thought I was never going to feel, ever again. I guess everyone's excitement gave me hope. We set up camp by the river, and DJ said that we'll have to camp 3 times before reaching the city. We also did a little practicing with kayaking in the water. That was actually fun and relaxing, and we all got to laugh and have fun just a little bit, for once.

There's one more thing I just remembered that I wanted to write about. Last night before we left Benny's house, DJ and Benny got into this huge argument with each other. They're both cool with each other now, but apparently Benny saw DJ drinking some of Benny's alcohol, and he thought DJ was like my dad, according to DJ. I can't believe DJ drinks! How long has he been drinking? I'm scared that it might become a problem for him, like it did for our dad. I remember mom telling me that our dad actually used to be a good guy, before he became a jerk alcoholic. This is probably just my anxiety talking. With the world different now, maybe he just started drinking? I really can't see DJ turning out like our dad, I know deep down he never would. Anyway, so their loud yelling woke me, Sam, and Eli up and we went over to listen to them, through the other side of the door. The yelling stopped as soon as we got to the door, but DJ was talking loud enough for us to hear. He said that he knew some guy who had a safe place for him to go, after everything happened, and that he really wanted to go, because he had feelings for this guy. But DJ decided not to go, so that he would be with me and our family. I had absolutely no clue that my brother likes guys. I'm fine with it, I don't care, but it was still a little shocking, you know. I wonder if mom knew about him being gay? I don't know, I can't decide if she knew or not. I almost thought about talking to DJ about it, but got too scared, to. I mean, he'll talk to me about it when he's ready, right? Same thing with him talking to me about him drinking now, too, right? Because I'm so not gonna approach him first, about it. Plus, he knows that we overheard him talking to Benny. We were still standing right by the door when DJ opened it, which was pretty awkward. Again, I can't believe my brother is gay. I never saw any signs that he was, because he's kind of a manly guy, who likes sports and stuff. Anyway, it's getting dark and hard to see, so I will say goodnight.


	5. Chapter 5

Day 19, Tuesday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

I'm so freaking tired. We had to kayak in the Columbia River for several hours today and I'm so sore. It's so much harder kayaking in the river with currents. Since my arm is pretty sore, I won't write much and will try to write about my day as quick as I can. So other than kayaking being tough, it was also tough for me with trying to participate in conversations that everyone else was having. I mostly just listened and barely said anything, because my brain was working extra slow and couldn't think of anything to say. Even though they had interesting conversations and I knew what they were talking about, I couldn't think of anything meaningful to add to the conversation. However, I did a lot of pointing whenever I saw stuff that we needed to look out for. I was always the first one to notice something, like other kayakers paddling passed us (though they weren't dangerous people), and huffs that were in the water. Basically I guess I was the look out person in our group, so luckily again I wasn't useless. We had to deal with smoky conditions when we were kayaking too, because there was a forest fire going on.

We reached the Bonneville Dam, which is where we're at right now, and the same group of people who passed us on the river earlier, are also here. DJ talked to a couple people from the the other group about possibly coming with us to the compound, but I don't think they want to go because one of them said it'll be dangerous trying to get there since we can't reach it by river, and having to travel through the city and all. DJ and everyone else seems confident that we'll make it, so hopefully those other people were just being scaredy cats. It's stupid that I just called them that, since I'm a scaredy cat myself but don't like to show it. Goodnight.

Day 21, Thursday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

My mind is blanking out right now... I'm not sure how to write about what I went through yesterday. So yesterday morning, before we left Bonneville Dam, a few people from that other group decided to join us. They were a pair of couples and their names were Paul and Tami, and Noah and Marlana. Paul's wife, Tami was killed by a huff in the water, and Paul shot himself in the head after seeing his wife die. Sam was in the same kayak with Paul! And after he died, Sam fell in the water because of Paul's body leaning out of the kayak, along with Bailey, inside his cat carrier. Sam and Bailey both made it! They were able to get out of the water and get into another kayak. That was so freaking scary seeing all that, but that's not all. There was a group of bad guys in kayaks, who were trying to freaking kill us! At one point, we had to go to shore and take out some of the bad guys, except for me because I stayed with Bailey and Sandy. I hope the day won't come to when I have to kill someone.

Later, we were about to reach another shoreline but Marlana's husband was shot and killed... and Benny too! Sandy jumped in the water after him, she tried to swim back but couldn't catch up with us, so she swam to shore, and we had to leave her there! I was absolutely devastated! More bad guys were kayaking straight for us, and we were all rowing away for our lives. But thank God, rescue showed up at the most perfect time. Earlier in the day, we were all at Multnomah Falls, and met people who are living there, including the sheriff. The sheriff gave DJ a walkie talkie, in case we would get into trouble after we left, and a few hours earlier before the sheriff came to our rescue, DJ told him that we needed their help, and like I said, could not have been a better timing. The sheriff and his other people took out the bad kayak gang, and towed us and our kayaks to a safe location.

The next day, which was today, we had to walk and drag all our stuff down this big, slippery hill, it was raining by the way. There were a ton of huffs behind us and they were all falling and rolling down the hill. Eli fell and rolled down the hill with a huff, but luckily he didn't get bit. Then I freaking slipped and rolled down a bit, and a huff tried to grab me! But Sandy came back! She attacked the huff that was after me, and she saved me! It was so awesome! I haven't been that happy, since before my mom and grandparents died.

We, along with Sandy, went back into our kayaks and took off again in the river. When we reached Jansen Beach, we witnessed a family trying to escape from huffs that were in their houseboat, but... they didn't make it. There was a toddler and baby... it was so horrible! We still had to deal with bad people in kayaks, but we didn't have to shoot them because we were able to reach shore before they could even get close to us. We ditched our kayaks and made it to the UPS that DJ used to work at. We easily found more food and supplies here.

So, funny story, Eli was drinking a can of soda and he burped so freaking loud, and we were all laughing and I got the hiccups. Never thought I might get the hiccups again, because I thought I would never laugh that hard ever again. We met Todd, he's a guy who DJ used to work with, and he's living here at UPS. Todd is pretty weird, but he's funny. I remember DJ telling me stories about him before the apocalypse started and now I've finally met the dude. DJ and him were even telling us some of those funny stories and we were all cracking up. But then, Todd said that we should leave Sandy here with him. I don't know if I want to, because Sandy could save us from more huffs, but DJ said that her barking could become an issue for us and attract more huffs. Personally, I just really love that dog and don't wanna leave her again, like when we had to yesterday, when we were in the river. But then I thought, what if she ends up getting killed if she tried to save us? I now think it's better that we do leave her here with Todd, where she'll be safe. Todd even said that he and Sandy will come to the compound if we come back for them. The bad people who were after us somehow got into UPS and tried to shoot at us. But Todd was able to get rid of them by playing loud music to scare them away, and DJ and Eli shot some of them, while huffs took care of the rest.

So today was kind of a better day than yesterday. Sandy came back, we made it to UPS, and we all got to laugh some. We'll be staying here tonight and tomorrow night, then off to the compound we go. Goodnight.

Day 22, Friday, October 2010 (3 weeks into apocalypse)

Dear Journal,

Last night when we were all trying to go to sleep, Todd and Eli kept making us laugh so hard that I thought I was gonna get the hiccups again. Todd was just being weird, but in a really funny way, and Eli was reacting to his weirdness by throwing him some hilarious, sarcastic comments. It was great.

We did huff killing training today. DJ would open the door to let a huff inside, so that we could get use to having to take them out, by jamming a bat into their head. Everyone else did pretty good, but of course I messed up on my first try. I hit the head, but not hard enough. Sam messed up on the first try too, so I don't know why I'm complaining about it. A small, 2 year old huff came in, and it was so sad and scary at the same time, seeing it. Eli of course, being the tough expert on killing huffs, took it out because none of us wanted to. The rest of the day was very relaxing. Other than huff killing training, we got to have a lazy day. I told Todd that I decided to let Sandy stay with him. I'm sad obviously that we're leaving her, but she'll be more safe. Plus, Todd will have her as company after we leave tomorrow, and we'll come back for them.

I've had a lot time today to think about all the stuff that I miss having to worry about, compared to now. So here's a list...

.Homework

.Those kids at school who made fun of me for being shy

.Teacher calling my name to answer a question when I didn't raise my freaking hand

. Being at a restaurant and repeating my order over and over again in my head before the waiter comes and the waiter is confused by my order

.Worry over my mom making me do chores when I already had so much homework to do

.Struggling with social anxiety in school, especially with group projects and having to talk to a classmate I barely know.

Something I still worry about now, and seriously shouldn't because it's extremely dumb with everything else I need to worry about now, is being afraid that I'll say something completely stupid, and cringe about it for the next few years. I can't believe I'm still worried about that! I'm way more worried about how easily me and everyone else I know, could get killed by huffs or by other people. What if I make a dumb decision and get someone else killed?! There's always these scenarios that pop in my head, of what I think could go extremely wrong, and with everything we've all been through, we've been in some seriously messed up situations and somehow made it out alive. But that's not gonna last forever. I keep forgetting about how safe the compound is supposed to be, so I'm mostly just anxious about the rest of the journey there. Sometimes I wonder why I still write in this journal? If I'm gonna die soon, then what's the point?

So on a more positive note, I got to know Marlana a little more today. It's the first time I've talked to her a lot, I mean since I met her a couple days ago I spoke some words to her, but not nearly as much as today. She approached me when I was writing in my journal, and I told her about all the things that I miss worrying about, before the world changed. She also ended up making her own list of what she missed worrying about, too, like paying bills. Then we talked about all the nice things that we miss like pizza, ice cream, music, and family who we've lost... Marlana was a guidance counselor and after hearing that, I almost thought about opening up to her about my anxiety, but I usually don't like to talk to other people about it, so I didn't. Well, goodnight. Hopefully we'll all be at the compound the next time I write in my journal.


	6. Chapter 6

Day 23, Saturday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

Well, we left UPS today. Got to say goodbye to Todd and Sandy before we left, obviously. I really hope we get to see them both again someday. When we got onto German Town Road, there was a group of people on motorcycles who were behind us! They started shooting at our truck, but Sam, Eli and Marlana were able to take them all down! DJ and everyone else were all pumped up after that, just happened. They had excitement over surviving another attack from those damn people who kept trying to kill us, and were shouting in excitement that we're strong survivors. It was a great moment! It made me feel more confident that we'll definitely make it to the compound, and that we'll all survive!

While DJ was struggling with driving around abandoned cars, a huff must have fell off a building and it landed on top of the truck! That gave us a hell of a jump scare! We all screamed, and even Eli was scared. The huff rolled down the front window though. We saw some people hitchhiking on the road, but it would have been risky and we wouldn't have any room in the truck, even if we did pick up those people. Later, we had to abandon the UPS truck. So its gonna take a little longer now to get there. What happened was that we left the truck to go to the bathroom, but there were a lot of huffs coming our way, so we had to rush back into the truck and DJ kept trying to turn the key, to start the engine, but it failed. We had to grab all our stuff and run out the front door as soon as DJ was able to get all the huffs attention, to the back.

After running for a while, we sat down and rested under a tree. Somehow when we were talking, the topic of slurpees came up, and we all wanted one so bad. I miss going to 7/11, to get slurpees. The last time I did that was maybe a week or two before the apocalypse started, so it's been about a month, but it feels like forever ago. Everything before the apocalypse seems like it was forever ago, even though it's only been 3 weeks. At least when we get to the compound, we'll be safe and live somewhat normal lives. Sam has been telling us that we'll still be celebrating holidays and have other fun events there.

Bailey doesn't have his cat carrier anymore. DJ decided that Bailey should do his own walking, so that we don't have to take turns holding the carrier with Bailey in it. I wasn't thrilled with that idea at first, but that day when we left Benny's house on foot, we left the carrier and Bailey mostly did fine without it. He did good today too, and he was always keeping up with us. I swear that cat is a dog, I can't believe how calm he mostly is, and that he doesn't run away from us. He's totally following us like a dog would. We found a nice, quiet spot that has a large creek, to stay at for the night. We have to hike like 30 or 40 miles before we finally reach the compound. My legs are so tired from walking and I have to do it again tomorrow, but it's worth it. Goodnight.

Day 24, Sunday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

Arriving at the compound has been delayed, again. Eli sprained his ankle when he was running/skipping on rocks in a river, we stopped at to rest. When we were at the river, we heard the sound of vehicles coming from the highway. They were large semi-trucks, which made Sam believe that it was her family in the vehicles. She started running towards them, and that was when Eli hurt his ankle. We were able to find a house where friendly people live. They're letting us stay for a couple days so that Eli can soak his ankle. The people who live here are Blair and her husband Aiden, and Blair's grandparents. Blair's grandma has a cat named Maggers. I know, funny name but her name is actually Maggie and Maggers is just a funny nickname for her.

Sam thinks her family is already building new homes, which was why she thought the semi-trucks with all that wood we saw earlier, were her family. I actually can't wait to meet Sam's family, because she talks about how awesome they are, a lot. Of course, I'll be shy when meeting them at first, but I have a feeling that I'll warm up to them pretty quickly. Watching Bailey and Maggers interacting with each other made my day. Seeing those cats playing with each other reminded me of watching funny cat videos online. DJ suggested that Bailey should stay here until we come back to pick up Blair and everyone else. Sam said she was worried that Bailey could try to follow us and get lost looking for us, so he will come with us when we leave. I can't believe Bailey made it this far. I was so worried that there was no way in hell that he could survive this journey, but he has so far and it's amazing.

DJ went with Sam towards the road to see if Sam would see any of her family members, but she wasn't able to make out anybody that she saw. I wish so bad that we had a vehicle so that when we leave, it would only take like an hour to get to the compound. I mostly wish that those people with the semi-trucks are Sam's family, so that they could take us to the compound.

Anyway, I'm just glad that we get to sleep inside a house, because last night it was pretty chilly when we had to sleep outside. The weather is definitely getting a little colder. I'm also glad that the apocalypse didn't start in the winter, that would have made things so much harder because of snow and having to sleep outside in that freezing weather would kill us. Well, goodnight.

Day 25, Monday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

So the funniest thing happened today! There was a huff that was stuck in the river and DJ went to take care of it, but when DJ approached it, the huff fell forward, which made DJ scared and caused him to fall into the water. When the huff fell, its head hit a big rock, so it basically killed itself. We were all dying from laughter! The look on DJ's face was so hilarious when it happened!

Nothing else really happened today after DJ's famous moment with that huff. Well when I say nothing, I meant nothing major happened. Sam, Eli and I played a random game. We took turns talking about anything that was on our mind, we mostly shared random, funny stories with each other. Then DJ and everyone else joined in and shared their random, funny memories as well. DJ and I shared the story of when one time, we went camping with our grandparents, and when we were hanging out by the creek, DJ was jumping from rock to rock in the water, and he lost his balance. He was about to fall onto other rocks, but luckily, he had time to react, so he quickly leaned his body the other way, so that he could fall into the water instead. Me and my grandparents witnessed it and we laughed so hard! We we're all laughing really hard at that story because earlier today, DJ had that similar experience in the water with that huff! My brother can be pretty clumsy when he's in the water. Goodnight.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 27, Wednesday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

There's so much to talk about... and no, we're still not at the compound, yet. So, yesterday morning, we left Blair and Aiden's house, and Aiden decided to join us. We were all just walking in foggy weather, and we hid when we saw some guy with a hatchet, kill a mother deer and her baby fawn. I've seen people die now, in this new, messed up world, but I really hated seeing those two animals die, it hit me really hard. Anyway, we were later walking in the creepy, foggy woods when we saw Sam run towards 3 people, who were approaching us. Those people were Sam's family! It was Zane, (Sam's cousin who she talked about a lot) Dakota, (Sam's other cousin and Zane's sister) and Cleo, (Dakota's girlfriend). Everything was going so great at that moment, watching Sam reunite with them, and the rest of us getting to meet them. I felt nothing but hope and excitement... until Aiden was struck with a hatchet... Aiden's dead. It was the same man with the same hatchet, we saw earlier, who killed Aiden. Him and a bunch of guys in prisoner outfits, completely surrounded us. We were screwed, so my hope and excitement was now gone.

All of us (including the prisoners) heard Zane warn the compound people into his radio, about our situation and possibly having to go to war, to bring Sam back to the compound. We were led away by the prisoners, to their camp. On the way there though, me and Sam saw Bailey up a tree, behind us. Sam assured me that he would follow us, like he always does. I was worried that Bailey would get too close, for the prisoners to see him and that guy with the hatchet would kill him, so that they could eat him or something. Thank God that didn't happen! I just remembered the last thing Aiden ever did before he died, was that he handed Bailey over to Sam. It kills me thinking about his wife Blair, because she has no idea her husband is dead.

So, we got to their camp, (Camp Glenwood) and they put us in a detention camp, which is basically a jail cell. Sam showed Zane, Dakota, and Cleo her letter, that never got left behind back at the treehouse. It was a good thing she had the letter in her pocket, because our belongings were taken from the prisoners. That's why I couldn't write in this journal yesterday, because it was in my pack. There was a seemingly, nice dude who was going to let us go free, but then he was stabbed in the back, by that jerk face leader of this place, Swish. We already met Swish when we were first captured and he was annoying as hell! He has no soul and people like him need to go! Especially in this new world, he's freaking dangerous. Man, I hate that guy so much! Anyway, we keep hearing the name Grover. Apparently, Grover is actually the true leader of this place, but he's not here, he's somewhere else. I don't know much, so that's all I have to say about that.

Later, we saw that Zane was talking to the guy who killed Aiden. Zane told us that the call he made into his radio was fake, and that he told hatchet guy (Stix) the same thing, because he thinks that he actually wants to help us. He made the fake call to make the prisoners nervous. Stix came back to us, with Swish, because he told him about the fake radio call. Swish, aka jerk face, said that Sam, Eli and I were free to join the rest of their camp, while the adults stay in the DC. There was no way I was going to leave without DJ, but then jerk face said everyone except Zane, Dakota and Cleo can go. We didn't go... at first, we choose to stay. Afterwards, we overheard Eli apologizing to Zane, about him taking Sam's letter. Eli was actually crying, too, which was weird to see. I mean not bad weird, it's just the way he is, how he's usually Mr. tough guy. I heard he used to have anxiety before the apocalypse, which is hard for me to believe. His anxiety probably wasn't as bad as mine, so that's why he was able to quickly grow out of it.

Earlier today, we shared stories of our adventures with Dakota and Cleo, while Zane was talking to an Australian woman, named Pepsi. Yes, that is her name, well nickname actually. I don't know her real name, she never told us. I'll get back to her in a minute. So, when we were sharing our stories, someone, I think it was Marlana, said that Sam was quite the storyteller in her letter. That led to Dakota asking me about my writing, since Sam mentioned it in her letter. It was one of those moments where I didn't like being in the spotlight, so of course I gave her an awkward response. I told her that it was just a journal that that I write in, and that it wasn't funny like Sam's letter. I feel like I need to be somewhat more cheerful when I talk to people, because I realized that I sounded depressed when I said that, which made it more awkward. Anyway, Pepsi, the woman who Zane was talking to, she and her son Coke (Yes, his nickname is coke) made friends with Bailey outside their cabin! She said that those of us who were offered out of the DC, can stay with her there. So then, Zane let us know that he knows someone here, who is a true friend, and they can help us get back to the compound! Oh yeah, so when we got to meet Pepsi, and this is hilarious, I never ever wanna forget this. Cleo, being the funny, sarcastic person, she is, she said something like this to Pepsi, "Hi Pepsi, I'm Root Beer, and this is my girlfriend, Dr. Pepper. She's not a doctor, but she's full of pep." She pretty much said it exactly like that, in those exact words, and I couldn't hold my laughter in! It totally sounded like something Chandler from Friends would say! Because he was always sarcastic. Man, I miss watching Friends... and drinking Cherry Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, I used to like Root Beer, but not as much anymore. Anyway, Pepsi laughed and responded back pretty well to Cleo, she said some funny stuff too.

We, (The Mt. Hood crew) decided to leave the DC, so that Pepsi could lead us to where she saw Bailey. We found him up in a tree! We wanted to catch him, but we weren't able to. We had to rush back through the main gates, when ruckus started going on. It turned out, that an endless crowd of huffs are taking over the highway. Now we're screwed again, we can't go out on the road, with the huffs out there. Later, we got settled in Pepsi's cabin. We were able to get our stuff/packs back, except our weapons. Eli complained about not having his precious bat, like I figured he would. I obviously got my journal back and have been writing in you for a long time now. Wow, I can't believe how much I just wrote, it's ridiculous. I didn't think I was gonna be able to write everything down I wanted to before bed time. I guess the more I write, the faster I can do it, which is cool. Finally, I'm saying goodnight, so... goodnight.


	8. Chapter 8

Day 28, Thursday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

I think I was like the first one in the camp to wake up early this morning. It was one of those nights again, where I couldn't sleep well for some reason. Trying to sleep well these days, is pretty hard for obvious reasons, but even before the world ended, I would always have trouble trying to fall asleep. My brain is always the most active at night, so that's why. I miss all the thoughts I used to have before falling asleep versus the dreadful thoughts I have now. It used to be just weird or random thoughts like...

.How does the internet even work?

.What should I wear tomorrow?

.Do I need to pee? I shouldn't have drank so much water before bed! (Still actually think that one, because I always have to pee in the middle of the night)

.Can animals understand us when we talk to them?

.I just remembered that embarrassing thing I said in second grade

.Is there a spider in my room?

. Imagining myself in a scenario that would likely never happen (Well, since the damn apocalypse happened, those kinds of thoughts are still a thing and even worse now)

So, I had to wait a bit for everyone else in the cabin to wake up. It was still dark outside when I first woke up, so... like I said, I had to wait but I didn't mind because it felt like I was finally getting some alone time. I just got to lay in bed, with peace and quiet and think to myself. I even had the most bizarre thought, what if all this is in my head? Like what if I suffered from some sort of accident and ended up in a coma, and this is all just a really messed up dream I'm having, about my pathetic self, trying to survive an apocalypse where dead people are coming back to life and trying to eat us? It's so stupid, I know. I can't believe I thought of that, but I wish it was true.

So, remember when I talked about Zane knowing someone here who wants to help us? Well, that someone is some dude around my brother's age, named Conner, I think that's his name, (I'm bad at names) Anyway, Conner has a truck hidden somewhere, for him to take us to the compound, but because of all the huffs out on the road, we can't leave yet. We just have to play nice here, until we can leave, but I don't feel safe here with most of the other people and jerk face. I feel like if someone does or says something wrong, by accident, in front of jerk face, then he'll punish them or worse, kill them. Because he's just like an annoying villain you would see in a movie or show. I am relieved though that there's good people here, like Pepsi and now Conner.

We were able to catch Bailey today! Also, Sam told me that Bailey can be mine if I want him, because she has a whole family of cats at the compound! I couldn't believe it! The compound sounds more amazing and dream-like every time I hear about it! I can't wait to keep Bailey and meet Sam's other cats! Sam, Eli and I, along with Coke and Chance, (Chance is a little kid who is friends with Coke) later played around outside the DC. We mostly played with Bailey for a while, having him chase after a string, which is always fun to do and watch. But then, other kids started joining in and my shyness started kicking in. So, I just decided to sit alone somewhere, to avoid interacting with them. It was like school all over again, where if I'm like in a big group and don't know most of these people, then I'm the quiet one who says nothing, and worry over them judging me and thinking I'm weird. I know I mentioned before that I'm fed up with worrying about stupid things that shouldn't matter anymore during the apocalypse, like my social awkwardness and what other people think of me... but it's really hard letting it go, I can't help it.

So, Marlana noticed I was sitting by myself and she questioned me about it. I told her I get nervous around new people and then she basically told me what I just wrote, that with all that's going on and what we've been through, that we shouldn't care about if someone is painfully shy. She even told me that I might find myself getting over it soon... I mean if Eli can get rid of his social anxiety, then why can't I? Then guess what Marlana asked me? She asked if she can read my journal, so that she can get to know me better and help me if I need to talk about my problems. At first, I thought I was gonna tell her, "No, it's too personal... sorry." But for some reason I just had this feeling... that I should let her read it, so I told her that I would go get it. We actually walked to the cabin together. I surprisingly don't feel any regret having Marlana reading this journal. I think it's because of how she is... she just has this calm, non-judgmental tone, that I think it will be easy for me to talk to her about stuff. It was pretty easy talking to her actually, because she read some of my journal today and we both had a long conversation about all I've been through. I guess Marlana is now like my therapist. I never had a therapist before, but I remember my mom was planning for me to go see one. I mentioned it before that Marlana was a guidance counselor, so she is indeed the perfect person to talk to.

After dinner, I hung out with DJ at the DC fence and we talked with Dakota and Cleo for a while. DJ asked them how they met each other and they both talked about how it was Dakota's cousin Rich, who set them up since he's best friends with Cleo. When Cleo was talking about Rich, she mentioned that he is gay and that was how they bonded and became besties pretty quickly. I could tell that DJ looked kind of interested, but I didn't think he was actually gonna ask if they could keep talking about Rich. Immediately, Dakota and Cleo knew DJ was gay. We all laughed at the way they realized it. Of course, they were both happy to tell DJ about Rich. They said that he's really fun and sassy, not the bad kind of sassy where someone is a brat, but that he is likable and has a well developed sense of humor. Also, they said that he loves to sing a lot, which made us laugh but that he's also a good singer. They even said that Rich was shot when they and the rest of the family were on their way to Mt. Hood to go get Sam. Fortunately, he survived and is currently recovering at the compound. So now DJ really has something to look forward to when we get there, that's cool for him. Goodnight.

Day 29, Friday, October 2010 (4 weeks into apocalypse)

Dear Journal,

So Sam, Eli and I couldn't sleep last night when we were supposed to. We noticed DJ wasn't sleeping in his bed, so we decided to sneak out of the cabin to go find him and see if Zane was still awake too. I was kind of scared to sneak out at first because I thought we would get caught by the wrong person and get into trouble. I totally thought my prediction was right when some dude approached us and sounded pissed. But it turned out he was just messing with us for fun and left. We all speed walked to the DC after that scary encounter happened. We found out that Pepsi saw us with that guy and she thought it was funny that he freaking scared us! After chatting and laughing together for a bit, DJ finally arrived and joined us. He said that it scared the chiz out him when he realized we were gone, when he didn't see us in our beds. Sam got that Icarly reference, so it was cool to find out that she loved that show too. DJ was drinking some alcohol (Moonshine) and the guys here who make the moonshine are nicknamed Moon and Shine. Most the adults were drinking and getting drunk, even Eli had some and I think he got a little drunk too. Dakota and Cleo were hilariously dancing! Marlana was also dancing with them too! It was a fun night watching drunk people do funny stuff compared to what I saw my dad do when he was drunk. A little while later, we all settled down and I listened to mostly Zane and the others have a deep conversation about religion and God. I have mixed feelings if God is real or not. I definitely believed in God when I was little, because when you're a little kid you believe in almost anything. If God is real, did he really allow the world to end in such an insane way?

This morning, we woke up to Sam being excited that Zane, Dakota and Cleo were let out of the DC! Those three left to go a mission with other prisoners. Before they left though, Zane let us know that we have to be ready to sneak out of here, the first chance we get. For some reason he also said that he's possibly not coming back, but Dakota and Cleo will, and they'll let us know when it's time to leave. I'm concerned about Zane now, obviously. I did hear him say that he would come back to the compound eventually, just not with us, which sucks. Right now, we're waiting for Dakota and Cleo to come back. They haven't been gone for too long yet, I'm not sure how long exactly they're supposed to be. I heard that Pepsi, Coke and Chance are planning on leaving with us too, which is good because they don't deserve to be here at this camp, they should be at the compound.

Day 30, Saturday, October 2010

Dear Journal,

I was too tired to write in this journal last night. We were finally able to escape Camp Glenwood, a little after Dakota and Cleo got back! We were able to sneak away together into the woods, when no one bad from the camp was looking. Cleo had to actually distract someone as the rest of us left and hid in a brush, so that we could wait for her. We did some little hiking before Conner pulled up with his truck and picked us up (Bailey was also in the truck, inside a carrier). We would've got to the compound in an hour or less, if it wasn't for the damn prisoners who caught up to us, and tried to take us out! DJ, Dakota, and Marlana were able to open fire and take some of them out! There was still one more truck behind us, when we noticed there was a herd of huffs ahead. The other truck luckily left, because of the herd coming. But, they didn't really leave, they backed up to park somewhere so that they could wait for us. We ended up deciding to leave the truck and hike through the woods, and up and down hillsides, to avoid the herd and the other truck with prisoners.

We made it to an old cabin, where it was Sam's grandpa's idea to stash food and supplies for a place to camp at here, which is freaking amazing! Before we made it to the cabin though, we had to climb under a bridge and stay quiet while a herd was passing by. Suddenly, Eli and I started sliding downward and out of panic, I accidentally let out a little shriek! It was horrible because of my stupid cry, huffs were now falling down around us! We were able to get out of that situation though, we climbed up with all our strength. I had never felt so much shame in my entire life... I almost got everyone else killed. That's my worst nightmare too and I can't believe that almost freaking happened! I tried my best to not break down in front of the others, but I failed. I was assured by Dakota and Sam that it wasn't my fault, and that no one blames me at all. I felt better knowing that they didn't blame me, but still... this is something that will haunt me for a while. We arrived at the cabin, by the time it was getting dark of course and immediately relaxed. The cabin is more cozy than I thought it would be. I mean the food and beds are great but the inside of it is somewhat nice. Turns out, there's more of these cabins around, thanks to Sam's grandpa. That guy was so prepared, I still can't believe it!

It's late in the morning now. Soon, we'll be leaving and we might get there today! Unless trouble finds us and it's delayed again. I do have strong hope that we'll finally make it and this journey will soon just be a memory.


End file.
